1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a small four-wheeled one-man vehicle. More particularly the present invention relates to a small four-wheeled vehicle provided with a cabin with wide open sides for assuring ease of entering and exiting the cabin, and a driver supporting unit for maintaining a driver in a reliable state in the vehicle.
2. Description of Background Art
Small four-wheeled vehicles usually include a body frame having a lower frame for supporting two front wheels and two rear wheels, and an upper frame which is upwardly curved in order to form a cabin. The vehicles have open right and left sides for allowing a driver to enter and exit the vehicle with ease. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 61-169373 discloses an example of such a vehicle.
Such a small four-wheeled vehicle, having a cabin with wide right and left open sides, assures a driver of such a vehicle superior entry and exit to and from the cabin. However, due to the wide open sides of the vehicle, often the driver of such a vehicle tends to feel uneasy or unsafe while operating the vehicle.
The foregoing small four-wheeled vehicle is relatively narrow, and therefore is easily parked in a small space. However, the driver cannot enter or exit the vehicle when it is parked in a small space that is substantially equal to the width of the vehicle and is surrounded by adjacent vehicles. Therefore, a parking space width has to be determined based on the width of the vehicle and an additional space to allow the driver to enter or exit the vehicle. Thus, the design of the background art fails to provide a vehicle which maximally utilizes available vehicle parking space.
The background art has attempted to reduce the width of such small four-wheeled vehicles, but in doing so it has been found that cabin space must be significantly reduced. A smaller cabin space reduces the comfort level of the driver of such vehicles. Furthermore, there is a lower limit at which the width may be reduced. Exceeding this limit seriously effects the comfort and drivability of the vehicles.